Strong on sell-offs

BRE Bank's net profit surged from zł.78.9 million in the first quarter of 2006 to zł.222.7 million in Q1 this year. The large increase in profits is due in part to a large deal BRE Bank carried out in Q1. It sold Skarbiec Asset Management Holding (SAMH) to the Enterprise Investors fund for zł.89.5 million.

The bank also has another deal up its sleeve. It wants to sell the open pension fund (OFE) Skarbiec-Emerytura - for at least zł.315 million. BRE Bank's president, Sławomir Lachowski, disclosed that already a number of offers have been submitted.

"We will sign the deal before the summer holidays," Lachowski said, adding that this will give the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) enough time to give the contract the green light. "I'm optimistic that we will complete the sale before the end of the year," Lachowski concluded.

Apart from the sale of SAMH, retail banking contributed heavily to the growth, increasing its profits nearly six-fold to zł.69.3 million. This segment now makes up one third of the regular business operations in comparison to just over 10 percent in the corresponding period in 2006. The number of customers of BRE's internet banks Mbank and Multibank grew by 100,000 in Q1 to reach 1.73 million. 

Lachowski expects the positive trend to continue this year. "This year should be good for the economy, and thus it should be good for the banking sector," he said.